SOCAR talks suspension of production at Azerbaijan's offshore fields

18:04
17 January 2019
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Suspension of production at offshore oil and gas fields due to the strong wind in Azerbaijan won’t have a big impact on the average annual indicators, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR told reporters.

The company said that in the next two days, as soon as the storm stops and the weather condition normalizes the oil workers will return to the platforms.

The work was suspended not at all platforms, SOCAR noted.

SOCAR evacuated a total of almost 2,500 oil workers from offshore platforms.

The company maximized security measures due to the sharp deterioration of the weather.

The National Hydrometeorology Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources said that on the night of Jan. 16-17, the weather in Azerbaijan changed dramatically.

Thus, on Jan. 17-18, the speed of the north-west wind increased to 20-25 meters per second, sometimes to 30-35 meters per second, while the wind speed in the open sea increased to 38-40 meters per second. The height of the waves in the sea is expected at 3-5 meters, and then at 6-8 meters or more.

The average daily oil production in Azerbaijan amounted to 790,000 barrels in December 2018, while the average daily production for the whole year amounted to 792,600 barrels.